If You Are Reading This
by ShadowWeasel
Summary: I am dead.


**GRAPHIC/DISTURBING CONTENT WARNING**

* * *

_Dear Sonic the Hedgehog,_

The bullet exploded from the darkness of the chamber with a crack of fire and a swirling wave of heat. Sonic's gloved thumb was sliced clean through the skin and to the nail as the hammer swung forward and smacked into the gun. A trickle of blood dripped down the steel, chrome barrel as the echo of the discharge reached their ears.

Bone caved into greymatter as Shadow the hedgehog's skull collapsed beneath the force of the speeding projectile. The ultimate life form was no match for the augmented revolver's power at point-blank range. Scarlet and amber fluid blossomed out of the head-wound as the black hedgehog's crimson eyes rolled up into the remains of the shattered skull. The paper note clutched within the web of his spasming fingers fluttered from his grasp and to the floor with a small snap as the wind carried it softly down.

_If you are reading this, I am dead._

Shadow's warm corpse toppled to the ground in a heap, without grace or poetry as he landed oddly on his back, one knee in the air as though he were kneeling and the other limp and twitching. There was an ugly snap as something within the creature's spine ruptured and broke. An intertwining strand, a hellish blend of saliva and white-hot blood, dribbled down his lips and past his pallor cheeks until a small pool of the bloodstuff collected beneath his face. A final, choking gasp erupted from his body as he sputtered a curse or a prayer or a farewell.

_And it was you who killed me._

Sonic let out a shuddering breath that shook his body as he lowered the smoldering gun. His sharp, emerald eyes were aglow with hellfire and bloodlust as they watched the last remnants of life escape Shadow's newly-christened cadaver.

"I'm here for what's mine," the insane hedgehog spoke to no one, with only the dead Shadow around to listen, "faker."

Sonic immediately began to scour the house, treading over Shadow's body as he went. The Chaos Emerald had to be in there somewhere, that much he was sure of. Shadow had hidden it well, there was no doubt. But now that he was dead...

_I assume you are looking for the Chaos Emerald._

The blue hedgehog tore open a desk-drawer and spilled its contents onto the floor. He repeated this process. Again. And again. And again. No emerald.

_We both know it was the seventh and final jewel. _

Sonic cursed and tipped the desk onto its side with a swift slap. Papers and pens fell with a loud clatter. "Where the hell is it?" he spat, stomping through the house once more.

_With it, you will have all seven of them. Legend says you will gain whatever you wish when they are gathered into one set._

The murderous hero growled through grinding teeth as he marched upstairs. He had to find that final emerald. With it, he could rid the world of all evil. Why hadn't Shadow just listened to him? All of this trouble, all of this... _bloodshed_ could have been so easily avoided.

_No doubt you are searching my house for it now. _

Sonic bashed open the locked door that lead to Shadow's bedroom and grinned a sadistic grin when he saw the safe beside the nightstand. He hurried towards it, his heart leaping for joy.

_You truly have lost your mind, brother. _

He squeezed the trigger for the second time that day and obliterated the locking mechanism that held the safe closed. With the hilt of his gun, he whipped the door apart until it squealed off of its hinges and crashed to the ground.

_To think that you can simply rid the world of evil with such a narrow-minded perception of right and wrong..._

Sonic roared and emptied the last of his bullets into the empty box when he saw the nothingness within. The tattered case disintegrated beneath the onslaught as four balls of flaming metal ripped through its shell. "Where the _hell _is it!?"

_You are certainly mad._

The blue hedgehog slumped downstairs and into the crime-scene once more, losing hope as he landed upon the final stair. Then he saw the note, its ink stained red with the blood of its deceased author. Shadow's dying puddle had nearly become a pond.

_But you will not find the emerald in my house._

Sonic knelt into the now-lukewarm river of red and pried the letter from Shadow's lifeless hands.

_I kept it safely guarded in the most secure cell I could imagine. _

The fastest thing alive speed-read the entirety of the page in a heartbeat and held back a shocked gasp.

_A hedgehog's ribcage is surprisingly sound when faced with forced entrance. _

Sonic swallowed hard and struggled with the lump that grew in his throat as his eyes fell to Shadow's cold chest. The white fur glistened with gore.

_Correct, Sonic._

Sonic the hedgehog stood silently from his kneeling position. He raised his red sneaker in the air and let it hover above Shadow's sternum.

_The emerald is inside of my corpse._

There was a sickening crushing noise like a plastic bottle being broken in two as Sonic's foot drove down and through the skin. The ripping sound of flesh and the snapping of bone rang through Sonic's ears as he stomped not once, not twice, but five times upon Shadow's ribs and other bones. Each repetition brought more blood and more gore and more organs sticking to the bottom of his shoe. The blue hedgehog did his damnedest not to vomit as a rubbery piece of something plopped onto the floor.

Feet slick with gore, Sonic nearly slipped on the pinkish-white tile as he got back down on his knees and began to wade through the bloodstuff. Shadow had been the true insane one, he thought to himself as he removed a chunk of lung. He promptly lost his lunch soon afterward.

Wiping his chin of bile, the Blue Blur saw his goal in the sea of crushed flesh and broken bone. Neon-green something protruded from the magma-like mess. Sonic's face lit up with joy as he panicked and scooped a hunk of bloody flesh out of the collapsed chest along with the thing that was surely the final Chaos Emerald. He wiped the must-be jewel clean, relishing in its cool feel beneath the searing sensation of dead gore.

Then he saw what it was.

_Dear Sonic the Hedgehog,_

He gulped back sour-tasting upchuck as he unfolded the green note and peeled the smooth, ordinary rock out of the crumpled paper. The normal stone fell to the floor with a sharp clunk as Sonic read the bloody note.

_If you're reading this, you know by now that you've made a terrible mistake._

Tears formed in the corners of his eyes as he swallowed hot, agonizing oxygen.

_You've proven your madness simply by reading this letter. As you must have realized by now, the emerald was not, in fact, inside my body. _

Sonic let the page fall to the ground as he sobbed. He buried his face into his bloodstained palms, and red juice trickled down his elbows as he wept.

_I only told you this so that you could smear yourself in... well, _evidence.

The sirens sounded in the distance, and cherry-red and blueberry-blue lights flickered outside.

_I hesitate to tell you where the seventh emerald is. For obvious reasons, you must understand._

**"Sonic the hedgehog, come out with your hands up!"**

_You have damned yourself, brother. _

**"Holy hell, he's covered in that guy's blood!"**

_We both knew that the power of all seven emeralds must only ever be used to combat the forces of darkness, not for foolish wishes. Of course, this ordeal was not in vain..._

Sonic sniffled crusty blood and mucus as he stared out at the approaching policemen. He raised his filthy palms and stood, wobbling weakly to his full height. His cheeks were drained of color as he stumbled towards the voices. Somewhere beyond the grave, Sonic could hear Shadow speak. He even later swore that he saw the dead hedgehog's lips move as the ghostly words echoed through the wind.

_"One less evil."_


End file.
